ySTANBUL (CyHAN)- Two days ago a bill was passed by Parliament
restricting human rights. According to its provisions, security forces
will be able to use protective measures such as arrest, custody,
detention and search and seizure based on reasonable doubt instead of
strong doubt.

Simply put, reasonable doubt is a standard that is used by security
forces in order to collect evidence where the probability that the
suspect committed the crime is higher than that of his innocence as well
as a standard of obtaining evidence by means of search. Strong doubt
reflects a higher probability than reasonable doubt in Turkish law, and
is required for some protective measures because of their nature.
Arrest, custody and detention are measures that restrict human freedoms,
and according to the Constitution, basic human rights and freedoms can
only be restricted when prescribed by law. In the Code on Criminal
Procedure (CMK), it was prescribed that strong doubt is necessary for
such measures. Now, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) passed this
bill to maintain the "union and progress" in Turkey.

Although it is not published in the Official Gazette and has not
entered into force yet, the first application of this new law was
somehow accomplished in Denizli. A Denizli Criminal Judge of Peace
ordered the seizure of flyers that a newly formed leftist group was
distributing. A group of leftists and socialists who came together this
autumn formed the United June Movement (BirleE-ik Haziran Hareketi) and
declared that they would continue in the struggle for democracy without
any form of violence. The Denizli branch of the organization planned a
meeting and flyers were posted to advertise it. It appears that the
judge in Denizli saw reasonable doubt, although he had no concrete
indications of a crime, and ordered that the leaflets and flyers be
seized. It is a historic moment when we see the application of a law
before it has even entered into force.

This law is a clear violation of basic human rights and therefore
unconstitutional and contrary to the provisions and implementations of
the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). I believe that Turkish
lawyers will bring this law first to the Constitutional Court and then
to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR)so that it will be
abolished soon, but let's be careful not to be hit by it until that
time.

During 2003 and 2004, we saw clear forward steps being taken on
behalf of human rights, but that was 10 years ago. It was during the
time that the EU put a clear agenda in front of Turkey and the EU vision
of Turkey was accepted by this government at every step. After 2005, we
did not see any positive steps, except a few amendments to the
Constitution and other laws. Instead, we see the AKP taking steps
backward since 2010 and this new law may be the last nail in the coffin.

It is also clear to me that the AKP is making these kinds of
amendments because of its so-called "enemies."
"Othering" and discrimination became government policy after
the Gezi protests, and the Hizmet movement and the Kurds were openly
declared enemies of the government in 2014. While the Kurdish movement
was a traditional enemy of the nation state, the Hizmet movement became
another enemy of the AKP government after the graft probe of Dec. 17. I
think the first interlocutors on this new law are these two groups. The
saddest point is that while the AKP is preparing itself for a revenge
operation, it is ruining the penal procedure principles and all
democratic values with a single blow, like an elephant in a glass shop.

German philosopher Max Weber once said: "The modern view of
criminal justice, broadly, is that public concern with morality or
expediency decrees expiation for the violation of a norm; this concern
finds expression in the infliction of punishment on the evil doer by
agents of the state, the evil doer, however, enjoying the protection of
a regular procedure."